The popularity of the skate boards as amusement and recreational devices has caused various safety hazards in their usage. Skate boards typically are formed of a flat elongated surface having two roller skate type wheel assemblies each at opposite ends. The movement of the skate board by the user is typically achieved by gravitational forces such as rolling down a hill. This forward movement of the skate board is hazardous if the hill is steep and the user develops an excessively high speed. Furthermore, turns using a skate board may be hazardous when the speed is excessively high.
The attainment of an excessively high speed using typiccal prior art skate boards is hazardous in that the user may fall off or be required to jump off at a high speed to stop the skate board. The user may attempt to reduce the speed of the skate board by dragging a foot alongside or behind the skate board. This method of reducing the speed is also hazardous, since it can cause the user to fall off the skate board at high speeds.
It has therefore become necessary to provide a braking device for such skate boards. Such a braking device is particularly useful for less qualified users.